The facing stone is made of a cream colored limestone. It was originally formed as a loose accumulation of dead fossils probably around a coral reef in a warm, shallow sea. How on Earth do we know all THAT?!!
Well, the rock contains a lot of fossils. Since we know that today corals form only in certain environments (we don't see too many reefs on land, in the saint John River or even in the cold Bay of Fundy), so fossils tell us about the ancient environment. There are corals in this limestone, as well as a lot of other types of fossil that all point to shallow, warm marine (sea) conditions.
EXERCISE:
See if you can find the following fossils, especially on the eastern side of the building:
1) Brachipods (clams are a form of brachiopod - they have two shells that they can open - one is usually larger than another).
2) Crinoid ossicles. Crinoids are an animal that lived attached to the ancient sea floor. It lived in shallow marine conditions, where waves created currents that brough it's food to it. When they died their bodies break apart into thousands of pieces, leaving behind fragments of their long stems, called ossicles. They come in a lot of different shapes, each specific to a different species. How many different types can you find in the wall?
A crinoid animal. Note that the stem breaks into ossicles (like vertebrae, see below).
Stem ossicles of different species of crinoid. Note many have 5 sides, this is a rarity in nature - few animals have 5 fold symmetry.
3) Belemnites. These are an ancient squid like animal that secreted a limestone shell that looks rather like a bullet when fossilised. the squid lived in a hole in the end of the shell, and always swam backwards, so it never got to see where it was going.
Federal Building
The facing stone is made of a cream colored limestone. It was originally formed as a loose accumulation of dead fossils probably around a coral reef in a warm, shallow sea. How on Earth do we know all THAT?!!
Well, the rock contains a lot of fossils. Since we know that today corals form only in certain environments (we don't see too many reefs on land, in the saint John River or even in the cold Bay of Fundy), so fossils tell us about the ancient environment. There are corals in this limestone, as well as a lot of other types of fossil that all point to shallow, warm marine (sea) conditions.
EXERCISE:
See if you can find the following fossils, especially on the eastern side of the building:
1) Brachipods (clams are a form of brachiopod - they have two shells that they can open - one is usually larger than another).
2) Crinoid ossicles. Crinoids are an animal that lived attached to the ancient sea floor. It lived in shallow marine conditions, where waves created currents that brough it's food to it. When they died their bodies break apart into thousands of pieces, leaving behind fragments of their long stems, called ossicles. They come in a lot of different shapes, each specific to a different species. How many different types can you find in the wall?
3) Belemnites. These are an ancient squid like animal that secreted a limestone shell that looks rather like a bullet when fossilised. the squid lived in a hole in the end of the shell, and always swam backwards, so it never got to see where it was going.